Construction toy



M 26, 1932. A. c. GILBEROT 1,868,496

CONSTRUCTION TOY Original Filed May 26, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l July 26, 1932. c, G|LBERT 1,868,496

' CONSTRUCTION TOY Original Filed May 26. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 26, 1932 v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ALFRED C. GILBERT, OF NORTH HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE A. C. GILBERT COMPANY, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT CONSTRUCTION TOY 'Original application filed May 26, 1927, Serial No. 194,374. Divided and this application filed December 11 1929. Serial No. 413,236.

The present application is a division of m app zlication Serial No. 194,374, filed May 26, 192

This invention relates to toy building sets used in the erection of buildings, bridges, etc., and in the construction of mechanical devices, such as gear boxes, tumbling barrels, and similar mechanical structures for association with the toys so built, or as individual toys. More particularly this inventionrelates to a combination of toy building elements, and in certain aspects thereof to the individual elements of the combination whereby mechanical devices may be constructed which are adapted to be operated by a toy electric motor or other power means, in order to more closely simulate the modern device which the toy is modeled from, and to give instruction and to create an interest in such construction to the toy builder and user.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a novel toy element, which is adapted for use in combination with another novel element to form a unit suitable for use in the construction of gear trains and the like.

Another object of this invention is to provide an element adapted for use in a mechanical device, and which may be readily assembled to other toy elements in various combinations therewith.

Anotherobject of this'invention is to pro vide an element which is adapted for use in combination with a gear blank or a disk, or a similar toy part or parts, to provide a hub or shaft bearing for the same, and which may be detachably secured thereto in various positions thereon for a variety of purposes.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a hub member adapted for use in various mechanical models and toys by being detachably assembled to other toy parts,

cooperating portions and features of each assur'ing substantially accurate and convenient assembly therewith.

A further object of this invention is to provide a gear wheel or disk, in combination with a hub member of the desired form, the gear wheel or disk being readily detached from the hub member and adapted to be associated with or assembled to other elements and hub y members, cooperating parts of each assuring substantially accurate assembly of one element with respect to the other.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a mechanical device in the structure of which elements embodying the features of this invention are use Fig. 2 is an end view of the device shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged portional elevation of one end of the device shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged end view of a part of the assembly shown in Fig. 1, certain parts having been removed for the sake of clearness;

Fig. 5 is an end View of a hub member embodying the features of this invention;

Fig. 6 is a side face view of a gear plate or blank embodying certain features of this invention;

Fig. 7 is an end view of a somewhat modified form of hub member;

Fig. 8 is an edge view of a hub member assembled to a pair of gear blanks or plates;

Fig. 9 is a section of the parts shown in Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is an edge View of a somewhat different arrangement of hub members with a gear plate;

Fig. 11 is a section of the parts shown in Fig. 10;

Fig. 12 is still another arrangement of a hub member, with a disk-like plate;

Fig. 13 is an end face view of a hub member secured to a disk or end plate; and

Fig. 14 is a section on line 14-14 of Fig. 13.

The mechanical device selected to illustrate the features of my invention is a toy tumbling barrel. This tumbling barrel comprises a casing 10, in this instance made up of a plurality of curved plates, end members 11, and end plates or disks l2 and 13. The end plate or element 12, in this instance, is a disk somewhat similar to that illustrated Figs. 8 and 9 the hub member 60 is shown secured by bolts 45 to a pair of gear members 36, with the flattened reduced end 66 of the hub member abutting the side surface of one of the gears 36. In Figs. 13 and 14, the hub member 60 is shown secured by bolts 45 to a disk member 12, with the sleeve portion 61 extending through the opening 14 therein, the diameters of both the opening and this portion of the sleeve being substantially equal so that the cooperation thereof will tend to centralize one part relatively to the other.

The plate portion of the hub member 60 is provided with perforations 44, which are disposed in a circular series therein, and like those in hub member 41 are spaced from the center opening thereof a distance equal to the spacing between the perforations in the other toy building elements, such as the gear 36, disk 12, etc. The perforations 44 in both plate portions 43 and 62 are peripherally spaced apart at the same distance and the spacing corresponds to that of the other toy building elements, such as the gear 36, disk 12, etc.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that the same is not to be limited thereto in all of its details, as many modifications and variations are possible which will lie within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claim.

What I claim is:

In a toy construction set having a plurality of elements provided with perforations spaced apart at a standard spacing common to the elements and including a flat disk-like member having a central opening and a circular series of perforations spaced according to the standard spacing and disposed about said opening, means for mounting said flat disk-like member upon shafts of varying sizes comprising a pair of hub members, each of said hub members being provided with a plate portion having a circular series of perforations adapted to register with said first mentioned circular series of perforations, and each of said hub members having a hub element secured to the plate portion thereof,

the hub element of one of said members being adapted to be set within said central opening when said hub member is placed in one relation and secured to said disk-like member by bolts passing through the registering perforations, to reduce the size of said central opening, and said hub element being adapted to project away from said disk-like member when the hub member is placed in another relation and secured to said disk-like member by said bolts, and the other of said hub members being adapted to be abutted against the face of said disk-like member and the hub element thereof being provided with a bore of substantially the same size as the 

